Left Behind
by TheBlueCarbuncle
Summary: Neirenn yearns to explore the world beyond the Academy, but even as she is reaching for new heights, does she realize just how much she has left behind? Oneshot, originally written for the 2007 fanworks contest. Contains out of canon character. R&R!


**A/N: This story was originally written for Sarah Ellerton's 2007 fanworks contest. However, I decided not to enter it, partially because I couldn't make the deadline (heh). I'm imagining this takes place some months after the end of Inverloch. Read, enjoy, review, and please remember that this is the first fanfic I've ever published publicly.**

Left Behind

Spring had come again. The academy at Aydensfell would soon be opening for another year, and Neirenn was at once terrified and excited. Having gotten permission to graduate ahead of her class, it would be the last time she returned to the old building whose stoney walls she had come to cherish. Since morning she had packed and repacked her belongings many times in anxious anticipation of opening day.

At last the smells of her old textbooks began to weary even her, and she decided that a walk outside would keep some of her nerves at bay. It was a fresh spring morning, after all; what business did she have locked inside? Smiling, she imagined her mother's voice echoing the very words of her thoughts. It was exactly the kind of thing she would have said.

She descended the stairs slowly, as if each step brought her closer to some undesirable conclusion. Just as she reached the bottom, her father's voice rang out, calling her name.

"Neirenn! You've got a visitor!"

Neirenn froze as her heart thundered and her imagination sped into overdrive. Who could it be coming to see her at this time? Was it someone from the academy? A professor who refused to allow a junior student into his class? Maybe it was the archmage himself, wanting to let her know that he had changed his mind about her advancement. But no, she reassured herself, he couldn't do that, could he?

Panicking, Neirenn raced to the front door. It was already open. On the threshold stood neither professor nor archmage, but a smiling, dark-haired boy.

Neirenn's sigh of relief was out before she could stop it. "Thank goodness it's only you, Obi!"

Obi raised an eyebrow. "Were you expecting royalty, perhaps?"

Neirenn laughed. "No, I thought it might be the archmage, or someone from the school, telling me I couldn't go. I mean, graduate. This year," she added, to clarify. "Because you know how he said I could, but I thought-was afraid-he might have changed his mind. I don't know why he would. But he can't though, now he's said I could. He can't go back on his word, can he?" She looked to her friend for reassurance.

Obi, grinning widely, simply shook his head.

"Seriously, Neirenn, just relax. You're the best in our year, and you've gotten incredibly better since you came back from the elves. Of _course_ they'll let you graduate. Heck, they'll let you do anything. It's pretty rare to see someone our age so...talented."

Neirenn flushed. She knew Obi was trying to be kind, but his words had brought back an odd feeling of guilt. While he was usually the first to know of anything concerning her, she still hadn't told him the truth about her sudden increase in knowledge. What would he say if he knew she had merely absorbed the mind of a learned-though powerless-man? She didn't know, and was afraid to find out.

They walked along together now, down a path familiar to both. Instinctively, Neirenn knew which way to go, though not a word about their destination had passed between them. After a while, she lifted her head from its contemplative bow, and saw Obi watching her curiously.

"So," he said, shifting his gaze to the road ahead. "You're going to be leaving me behind, huh?" He had meant the reproach to be light-hearted, but the tone hadn't been right.

Neirenn's smile was wistful. "Yes, I suppose I will. You, the school, possibly even Aydensfell, too."

Obi shrugged. But before he could open his mouth, Neirenn was speaking again.

"But, I'll come back, you know. I mean, it's not for ever. Maybe a few years. But I'll visit! And I'll have _such_ great stories to tell. I really want to see what it's like, outside of here. I saw a bit of it, when I went off with Ash, but there was never really time to take it in. I want to go by myself, and explore things properly, and-"

Obi had to punch her shoulder to make her stop.

"Seriously. Just _calm down_." He grinned.

"Sorry."

Suddenly Neirenn found that she had nothing left to say. She felt blank and empty as she walked alongside Obi. She had yearned for this opportunity for years, to go out, to explore, to shun the protection of her elders and be able to be her own person. But now, after all, she was unable to feel anything more than a dull throbbing in her heart, asking repeatedly if she had really done the right thing.

It was Obi who broke the silence. He stopped in the middle of the path, and, in an affectedly nonchalant voice, asked, "Would you like some roses?"

"What?" Neirenn eyed him curiously.

"It's just my mother planted too many bulbs again. You should see the mess our garden's in-beautiful, but so strange and wild. And my room's now full of cut flowers, and I'm afraid they'll just end up dying, I've no idea what to do with all of them..."

Neirenn's mouth twitched in a sly smile. She started walking again, and Obi followed suit.

"Oh?" Her voice was teasing. "Is that the problem?"

Obi nodded at the ground.

"Well, the solution is simple, don't you think?"

Now Obi raised his head, a shadow of suspiscion clouding his eyes.

"I don't follow."

Neirenn's worries were forgotten in an instant. She loved Obi for his unfailing ability to find some way of making her feel better, whether it was done on purpose or not. Perhaps it was just his presence that was her cure, she didn't know.

"What you need," she began slowly, relishing every word, "is to get yourself a _girlfriend_."

Obi didn't miss a step, though his eyes narrowed at the path in front of them. Neirenn was smirking, he could feel it.

"Seriously, Obi," she said in mock seriousness, "you'd do well. And you wouldn't have to worry over all those little flowers, dying un_loved_..."

There issued a mysterious noise from beside Neirenn, which she took to be a snort.

"As _if_," grumbled Obi. A girlfriend? Him? The very suggestion was ridiculous. Almost as ridiculou_s_, he thought, as the fiery-haired girl to his left, laughing at his suddenly sullen expression.

Still, even as Obi glowered at Neirenn, it was all he could do to keep the corners of his mouth from curving upwards. They walked in silence once again, but this time the silence neither weighed down on them, nor suffocated them in their own thoughts. Instead, it wrapped about them softly, letting them enjoy the other's company in peace. On they walked, comfortable in the knowledge that, whatever may come, at least they were here now, together, inseparable. Neirenn's eyes twinkled at Obi; Obi's rolled in exaggerated annoyance. Neither said another word for the rest of the afternoon.


End file.
